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History of Pern
Introduction This page consists of brief summaries of the major events of the various Passes and Intervals of Pern; for more in-depth plot summaries, see the individual book pages. Dating Prior to the publication of All the Weyrs of Pern, it was thought that a Pass and an Interval lasted exactly fifty and two hundred years, respectively, and as such events on Pern were dated using this method. In All the Weyrs of Pern, it was revealed by Aivas that this was incorrect, and an adjusted system — dubbed the «Aivas Adjusted Turn» — was implemented to fix this. However, because very little information exists about the true length of the various Passes and Intervals, this page uses the old «After Landing» dating method; with the "Aivas Adjusted Turn"s listed alongside if they are known. Pre-Colony History See The P.E.R.N. Survey The P. E. R. N. Survey Approximately 200 years prior to the landing of the original settlers on Pern, the planet was visited by a team of scouts that were part of the Exploration and Evaluation Corps and whose mission was to explore seven promising star systems to evaluate their habitability. Their mission to survey seven planetary systems had been beset with disasters along the way, and by the time they arrived at their fifth system, the Rukbat system, four out of the original eight members of the team had been killed in accidents while carrying out the explorations: * Terbo, the zoologist/chemist, was killed in a landslide on the first planet they visited. This planet was labelled I. L. F. in that there was evidence of Intelligent Life Forms. * The second planet they visited was not hospitable for habitation and was labeled as L. A. (Lethal, Avoid!) * Beldona, the 2nd pilot and planetologist, was killed on the 3rd planet they visited in the same accident that had injured Castor. This planet was labelled G. O. L. D. I. which meant «Good Only for Large Diversified Interests». * Sevvie Asturias, the paleontologist and medic, as well as Flora Neveshan, the zoologist and botanist, were killed in a climbing accident on the fourth planet they visited, which was labelled D. E. for «Dead End». This planet showed evidence of once supporting life, but they found that it had been bombarded by meteors and meteorites which boiled off much of the water and atmosphere. The remaining members of the team were: * Castor — leader of the team, He had a broken leg as a result of the accident on the third planet they visited which took the life of Beldona and therefore was not able to accompany the other team members to the planet's surface. * Shavva bint Faroud — Biologist — acted as the landing team's leader. * Ben Turnien — Geologist * Mo Tan Liu — Nexialist As they approached the third planet in the Rukbat system, they sent out probes to gather general data. When the initial data reports arrived, they were regarded as too good to be true. There was a good balance of land and water mass, and in many ways, this planet was similar to Earth, resulting in a preliminary classification of P.E or, Parallel Earth. They did notice some odd circular patterns in groups, like ripples in a pond, on all the vegetated areas. Due to Castor's broken leg, the team had to carry out their surface exploration with only three members. This resulted in a less thorough examination and evaluation of planetary conditions. The three-member team originally landed in a great plain that was situated in the eastern part of the southern land mass. They started their exploration by examining the odd circle formations that the probes observed. They found nothing unusual other than the areas were full of new growth, or ecological succession, but they never did find the cause. During the 10 days on the planet's surface they found: * Gravity was 0.9 (probably meaning that it was 90 % of Earth's gravity) * The planet had a 15 degree axial tilt resulting in seasons similar to Earth. * No ruminants or grazers, but found a fossil in a tar pit that was 50,000 years old. The fossil had ground down molars that indicated it was a grazer. * Observed large avians that they labelled «wherries» due to their resemblance to large barges found on Earth. * A large deposit of diamonds. * Ugly, large, smelly reptile, or herpetoid, 7 cm wide and 5 cm high, with tentacles and claws. Insects were stuck on its back, possibly an external digestive system. * Plant with shooting barbs, similar to Earth's cactus. * Multi-colored, gracefully flying creatures resembling lizards. * A luminous variety of mycelium found in the recesses of a large cave. * The northern continent has adequate lodes of iron, copper, nickel, tin, vanadium, bauxite, gold and germanium, but not in sufficient quantities for a large scale mining operation. * Tree with pungent bark that made a tasty infusion containing hints of coffee and chocolate. The planet was labelled P. E. R. N. for «Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible». Castor added a «C» on the top corner of the report, indicating that the planet was suitable for colonization. The First Crossing In the novel Dragonsdawn, Pern was colonized by settlers originally from Earth, First Base on the Moon, and the colony at Alpha Centauri. These people had lived in a technocratic society recovering from a war with an alien race. The colony was led by Admiral Paul Benden and Governor Emily Boll, who had both been key leaders in the war. The 6,000 colonists wanted to return to an agrarian society with a low level of technology so badly that they were prepared to take a fifteen-year one-way journey to an isolated part of the galaxy.Dragonsdawn First Pass Detailed in: Dragonsdawn, The Dolphins' Bell, The Ford of Red Hanrahan, The Second Weyr, Dragonsblood. OVERVIEW — also needs box in corner detailing how long the era of time lasted, and the dates as listed in the AL and AAT systems. Discovery of Thread Creation of Dragons The Second Crossing The Fever Year Sixteen years after Landing, a deadly fever struck the colonists, causing the loss of one-sixth of their population. Governer Emily Boll was among the casualities. Founding of Ruatha Hold Three years after the Fever Year, Red Hanrahan and his family left Fort Hold to establish their own Hold, which they called Rua Atha--or Ruatha. Founding of Benden Weyr First Interval Detailed in: Dragonsblood, Rescue Run, Red Star Rising/Dragonseye. Rescue Run — ???AL Arith In the last turn of the First Pass, two fire lizards abruptly arrived outside Fort Hold from between, both stricken with a strange illness. Wind Blossom, now the Head of the «College», managed to treat the sickly fire lizards — one died, but the other was cured. As time went on, As the First Interval, the young queen dragon Arith arrived from the future; dying upon arrival at Fort Hold. The Northern Continent of Pern was not fully colonized at this point; many people were out looking to clam their Charter stake acres but it is thought that ten Major Holds existed at this point in time: Fort, Southern Boll, Ruatha, Tillek, High Reaches, Telgar, Ista, Bitra, Benden and Nerat, with Crom Hold being founded in the final Turn of the First Interval, although not as a Major Hold. The exact foundation dates of Igen, Keroon, Lemos and Nabol Holds remains as yet unknown, but it can be assumed that they were either founded before the late Second Interval, or already existed as Minor Holds. The Crafthall system A sudden lightning storm in the final Turn of the First Interval destroyed the ailing computer system at the College, destroying all information not written down elsewhere, and Star Stones — 257AL In the last Turn of the First Interval, as Hold and Weyr alike prepared for the return of Thread, it soon became clear that Bitra Hold alone was unprepared; its Holder, Lord Chalkin — who had an incredibly bad record as Lord Holder — did not believe that Thread existed, and refused to take measures against it. During winter, when people living in Bitra attempted to leave out of fear for their own safety, Chalkin stationed guards at the borders to prevent them from crossing, who subjected the refugees to countless abuse. Upon discovering this, dragonriders from Benden and Telgar Weyrs intervened and rescued the refugees, and the guards were trialled for their harsh actions. Plans were subsequently made to impeach Chalkin], although these were delayed by Lord Jamson of High Reaches being unwilling to impose on another Lord Holder's authority. In the end, Chalkin was banished to the Eastern Ring Islands some time before Turn's End, and his uncle Vergerin was installed as Lord Holder. During this time, residents of the College attempted to come up with an «indestructible record» to prove conclusively to future generations that Thread would return. Shortly before Chalkin's impeachment, one of the students, Jemmy, was reminded of the «Stonehenge» solstice calendar on Earth, and a design was derived from that, resulting in the creation of the «Star Stones» — a series of stones that the Red Star would appear bracketed in when a Pass was due to begin — which were installed at every Weyr during Turn's End. Second Pass Detailed in: Red Star Rising/Dragonseye, Ever The Twain (possibly). Second Interval Detailed in: Dragon's Kin, Dragon's Fire, Dragon Harper, Dragonheart, Dragon's Time, Sky Dragons. Mining and Flamestone — AL The Plague — AL Timing-It — AL As the result — see «Third Pass» section for more information — several trips were made by dragonriders between time to the Second Interval, to give injured dragons and riders time to recover As a result of the Dragon Plague of the Third Pass Igen Weyr — AL Eastern Weyr — AL Sky Weyr — AL Third Pass Detailed in: Dragonsblood, Dragonheart, Dragongirl, Dragon's Time, Sky Dragons. The Dragon Plague NOTE: Due to many characters traveling between times during this period of time, many of these events take '' Shortly before the beginning of the Third Pass, a mysterious sickness appeared on Pern; affecting fire-lizard and dragon alike. In an attempt to protect the dragons from infection, fire-lizards across the Northern Continent were sent by their owners to the Southern Continent, never to return. This measure proved unsuccessful, and the sickness continued to spread through the Weyrs of Pern — save for High Reaches Weyr, which had closed itself off in recent Turns — either killing the dragons outright or forcing them between. To make matters worse, the sickness meant that more dragon casualties were suffered during attempts to fight Thread, with some dragons becoming lost due to becoming confused while travelling between. At Fort Weyr, high casualties coupled with a number of Night Falls led to the dragonriders fighting Thread with the aid of watch-whers; guided by WherMaster Nuella. In time, Fort Weyrleader K'lior would also come up with the idea of sending injured dragons, their riders and weyrlings back in time to the abandoned Igen Weyr to allow them to recover and mature and help them rebuild their numbers. At the same time, a frantic search for a cure led to the discovery of a series of ancient rooms built at Benden Weyr in case of such an emergency. Unknown to the dragonriders of the Third Pass, their ancestors had become clued to the eventual existence of a Dragon Plague during the First Interval after two infected fire-lizards — and later the fatally ill queen dragon Arith — mistakenly traveled between times to the College — what would become the Harper Hall. The cure would ultimately be developed by junior weyrwoman Lorana of Benden Weyr, after the death of her own dragon Arith — accidentally poisoned by one of the mixtures in the ancient rooms. Lorana had the rare ability to hear all dragons, but was also able to feel their injuries, and often attempted to prevent dragons from going between forever by calling them back with her mind. After Telgar Weyrleader D'gan mistakenly lost the entirety of Telgar Weyr between after failing to notice his own dragon Kaloth was sick with the Dragon Plague, Lorana tried to call them back — along with Benden Weyrleader B'nik's dragon Caranth — only to mysteriously make contact with Wind Blossom in the First Interval, thus allowing them to impart information to one another that would be crucial to the preparation and creation of a cure. Once the cure was created — and after a group of dragonriders were sent to repopulate the empty Telgar Weyr — the remaining dragon population was hastily immunized with ichor from cured dragons. Benden Weyr's Weyrwoman and her egg-heavy dragon Minith were sent back in time to High Reaches Weyr to warn it to close itself off, and to allow Minith to clutch a new generation of dragons immune to the Dragon Plague. A new problem soon arrived in the form of all of the queen dragons laying smaller clutches than normal, which was soon concluded to have been a secret part of the cure implemented by Wind Blossom to get the queens to clutch more frequently to help rebuild the devastated population. However, the dragonriders quickly became aware that this would not replace the dragons who were being killed in Threadfalls fast enough. Although a failsafe had been left behind by Wind Blossom in the form of a mixture that would turn a watch-wher into a dragon, a different solution was eventually found as a result of the actions of Lorana. Initially traveling to the Third Interval on Minith with the intention of bringing back the dragons of that time, Lorana eventually ended up learning of the existence of the Far Western Continent of Pern; which was later dubbed the Great Isle. Since the Great Isle was uninhabited, the dragonriders were able to time it back three Turns and establish a settlement where more weyrlings would be able to mature. After three Turns on what was called the «Eastern Isle», multiple queen mating flights resulted in a combined clutch of over two hundred and thirty eggs being laid. Although the majority of these eggs were annihilated when tunnel snakes ate the contents of the eggs, twenty three dragons hatched and Impressed riders. Following this, the majority of the mature weyrlings were sent back to Telgar Weyr, only to find themselves trapped between against D'gan and the other Telgar Weyr dragonriders thought dead. With aid from Lorana, all were soon recovered from between, which would lead to a brief power struggle between D'gan and the newer Weyrleaders of Telgar Weyr, which he would lose. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Isle, the dangers of Thread led the weyrlings left behind to seek shelter three Turns back in time on the "Western half of the Great Isle. Although it took some time for the right safety measures to be established, the dragonriders soon realised that they would be able to repopulate Pern's dragon population by preventing the green dragons from chewing firestone and becoming sterile. A shortage of male Candidates also led to females successfully Impressing green and blue hatchlings in their place; something that hadn't happened for some time after the Second Pass. After three Turns of mating flights — and a brief attempt to fight Thread from the point in the sky that it became a threat — Pern at last had the numbers to ensure that it would survive to the end of the Pass. Third Interval ''Detailed in: Dragon's Time. Little is known about the Third Interval. At least four dragonriders from the Third Pass are known to have survived to this point in time: Tullea, Fiona, Terin and C'tov, and two dragonriders from the Third Pass were known to have traveled forwards in time to the Third Interval; * Lorana, who had planned to bring back dragonriders to aid the depleted Weyrs, but was tricked into returning by Tullea; who was pretending that the dragons had all died out, thus ensuring that Lorana would go back in time and meet up with the dying Tenniz, ultimately finding her way to the Far Western Continent, where the Weyrs would rebuild their strength with a new generation of dragons. * F'jian, who Lorana brought with her on a second trip to the future; with the intention of showing him the extended family that would exist years after his death. Lorana is known to have died by this point — although the exact circumstances remain a mystery, brief mentions of the subject in each book seem to suggest it was early in the Third Pass — but she is known to have had a son, who would become Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, and end up in a relationship with Tullea's daughter, and have a son. Tullea herself went between on Minith following Lorana's initial trip to the Third Interval. Following F'jian's death in the Third Pass, Terin ended up in a relationship with C'tov of High Reaches Weyr. Terin would later give birth to a daughter — F'jian's — who in turn would have a daughter named Torina. F'jian and Terin are thought to have both gone between on their dragons — Sereth and Kurinth — following Lorana's second trip to the Third Interval. Fourth Pass At present, almost nothing is known about the Fourth Pass. Fourth Interval (First Long Interval) At present, almost nothing is known about the Fourth Interval. Although such an event had been predicted by the astronomers among the early colonists of Pern, in reality, both Long Intervals were the result of actions made by dragonriders timing it from the Ninth Pass. Following the instructions of Aivas — who kept this fact a secret. It's worth noting, however, that this would have been considered the Fifth Pass, until Thread failed to return. Fifth Pass Detailed in: Nerilka's Story (mentioned). At this point in time, all that is known about the Fifth Pass is that Thread fell for fifty-two Turns. Fifth Interval Sixth Pass Detailed in: Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, Beyond Between, Nerilka's Story. Overview? Moreta's Ride — 1541AL Seven Turns before the (predicted) end of the Sixth Pass, the crew of the Windtoss made an unauthorised trip to the Southern Continent — scheduled for re-settlement at the end of the Pass — in an attempt to make an early claim. While there, the crew captured a feline, and brought it back with them; stating when they arrived at Ista Hold that they found the feline clinging to a bit of driftwood. Unknown to the crew of the Windtoss, the feline was a carrier for a strain of Influenza, which spread quickly across areas of Pern as the result of two large Gathers being held at Ruatha and Ista Holds, and infected both man and runnerbeast; decimating large areas of Ruatha, Keroon and even affecting dragonriders although several runnerbeasts were safely kept in isolation by Dag and his grandson Fergal and race manger Norman, who taken them up the nursery meadows. The ones that lived were use to make serum, as suggested by harper Tuero, and later on helped by aided by Nerilka, who had come In time, Masterhealer Capiam — who had contracted the sickness and recovered — realized a serum could be made from the blood of those who had recovered, and proposed a mass vaccination take place; as Records indicated a second wave of sickness would soon spread. To accomplish this, he recruited dragonrider aid; getting them to use their secret ability to travel between times — something discovered in an old Record, which was subsequently «lost» to prevent the information being made public — to allow them to covertly get the required supplies from the future and to then vaccinate every hold on Pern in a single day with only a few riders from each Weyr. However, an unexpected problem arose at the last minute; Weyrleader M'tani of Telgar Weyr refused to send aid to the Holds under his jurisdiction — at this point in time, Telgar and Keroon Holds — and prevented any dragonriders from leaving the Weyr. Dragonriders from other Weyrs were soon found who could deliver the serum to Telgar, with Weyrwoman Moreta of Fort Weyr delivering the serum herself to Keroon, since she had grown up there and was familiar with its locations, and travelled to each holding on Holth; the queen dragon of former Weyrwoman Leri, as her own dragon Orlith was bound to the Hatching Grounds by her clutch. However, the exhaustion caused by timing it repeatedly resulted in Moreta failing to envision her destination properly after delivering their final shipment; resulting in her and Leri's queen Holth being lost between. In the aftermath, the grief-stricken Leri and Orlith decided to go between together once Orlith's clutch hatched. A number of measures were subsequently taken to prevent a repeat of the accident; in addition to this, Masterharper Tirone wrote a ballad about the event — The Ballad of Moreta's Ride — although at the request of the Weyrleaders of Pern, he changed the ending so that Moreta delivered the serum on Orlith, who then took her between after Moreta began to succumb to the sickness. At the same time, Alessan; the Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold and the secret lover of Moreta, was also greatly saddened by Moreta's death, and made an arrangement with Nerilka; he would marry her, and once she was pregnant with his child — thus ensuring Ruatha's line would continue — he would commit suicide by overdosing on fellis. Unknown to the inhabitants of Pern, Moreta and Holth's spirits lingered between, until being retrieved by Marco Galliani and Duluth — the first dragon/rider pair to go between — who guided them to Paradise River; revealing that he had been there ever since going between, and that he and Duluth have been retrieving lost dragons and their riders and bringing them to Paradise River until they are able to go «Beyond Between». Over time, Moreta and Holth made return trips to Waterhole Hold — the location they fatally went between from — and eventually managed to get word sent to Fort Weyr of their existence. On the day of the Hatching, Orlith took Leri to Waterhole Hold, where they both waited for Moreta and Holth to arrive, at which point they went between on their proper dragons, and then, presumably, «Beyond Between», like all the others before them. At the Hatching of Orlith's clutch, Alessan's sister — and only surviving relative — Oklina succeeded in Impressing the gold hatchling, Hannath, and Alessan managed to let go of his grief not long afterwards. Sixth Interval Detailed in: Nerilka's Story. At present, almost nothing is known about the Sixth Interval, aside from the fact that Nerilka wrote her recollection of the pandemic during the fifth Turn of the Seventh Pass Detailed in: Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern, All the Weyrs of Pern (mentioned). OVERVIEW According to Aivas, Thread only fell for 48 Turns — according to Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern, towards the end of the Seventh Interval Threadfall began to slow over Ista Weyr, resulting in the riders there becoming Vendetta (CANONICITY BANNER GOES HERE) Towards the end of the Seventh Pass, Fort Weyr's only Weyrwoman became ill and died after a visit to her family on Ista Island, leaving her queen dragon bound to the Hatching Ground by her clutch. As dragonriders began a Search for a candidate for the queen egg, it was discovered that a sickness with similarities to the devastating pandemic of the Sixth Pass — the main difference being that this strain was more virulent and killed outright — was affecting man and herdbeast, with people becoming affected by eating the sickly herdbeasts. It was soon realised that this was no accident; someone was directly targeting Fort Weyr and Fort Hold. The man responsible for the disease was Roth, who had grown up at Fort Weyr, but been sent away to the Healer Hall by his father when he failed to Impress. At the Healer Hall, Roth learns how to manufacture poisons and diseases, until he was thrown out of the Healer Hall for attempting to access a hidden «skin» with information about the pandemic of the Sixth Pass. Although his exact actions after this date are not known, it is known that Roth spent some time travelling, and eventually managed to establish a «Hold» on Ierne Island, and began his vendetta against Fort Weyr, aided by a number of dragonriders — mostly greens and blues — who were unhappy with their position in the Weyrs, and also by Lamrat — the assistant and cousin of Lord Gralt of Fort Hold — who envied his cousin's position as Lord Holder of Fort Hold. Roth also negotiated with the Miner Rom to secretly send metal ore to them to be used to create weapons for an assault on Hold and Weyr. Ultimately, Roth's plans were foiled by D'kor — an old friend of Roth's, who, by chance, had Impressed the very dragon Roth had failed to — who eventually managed to track the disease and those responsible for it to Ierne Island. Despite being captured while investigating the island, D'kor managed to escape; killing the guards — and Lamrat — and freeing those imprisoned, while his dragon Zenth summoned the other dragonriders in his wing to aid. However, Roth managed to escape when D'kor began to succumb to the effects of the sickness, and he killed wingleader S'bor as he fled. The sickness came to an end not long afterwards, as Masterhealer Jazon was able to manufacture an antidote using information from the aforementioned skin and various herbs retrieved by D'kor. A few sevendays later, Roth attempted one final assault on Fort Weyr, disguised as a man named «Soliard», he claimed to be a drudge sent to aid the depleted numbers at Fort Weyr. However, another kitchen worker discovered his plan; he planned to poison the queen egg during the Hatching ceremony. Upon learning of this, the recovered D'kor — made wingleader following S'bor's death — mustered several members of his wing to find Roth, ultimately managing to apprehend him in the Hatching Ground, and staking him out for Thread in the Southern Continent after the ceremony. Seventh Interval At present, almost nothing is known about the Seventh Interval, aside from the fact that Oldtimer Weyrleader T'kul of High Reaches Weyr — and later Southern Weyr — may have been born in this time. Eighth Pass Eighth Interval (Second Long Interval) Detailed in: The Masterharper of Pern, The Renegades of Pern, Dragonflight. The Question Song — Fax — Ninth Pass Detailed in: Dragonflight, Runner of Pern, Dragonquest, Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums, The Smallest Dragonboy, The Girl Who Heard Dragons, The White Dragon, The Renegades of Pern, All the Weyrs of Pern, The Dolphins of Pern, The Skies of Pern. The Return of Thread and Lessa's Ride — 2508AL Oldtimer Troubles — 2515AL Although all initially rejoiced at the arrival of the dragonriders from the Eighth Pass, as time went on, problems began to arise between the «Oldtimers» and the inhabitants of the Ninth Pass. This was largely caused by the dragonriders refusing to accept the changes that had happened on Pern during the Eighth Interval; including the expansion of holder lands, and the general decline in Weyr authority compared to that of the Lord Holders and Craftsmasters. Not only did some «Oldtimers» look down on non-dragonriders, but they demanded higher tithes in return for the larger areas of land to protect from Thread — and in some cases, offered insufficient aid to protect these lands. This behaviour was speculated to be the result of exhaustion from years spent fighting Thread; the older dragonriders simply found it easier to stick to what was familiar to them. By the Eighth Turn of the Ninth Pass, a rivalry had formed between T'ron, Oldtimer Weyrleader of Fort Weyr, and F'lar, Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, as F'lar repeatedly tried to encourage the Oldtimer dragonriders to move away from «tradition» and to explore new concepts; such as encouraging greater connections with the other Weyrs — which were normally fiercely independent — and the Holds. Eventually, some changes to tradition came about when Thread began falling strangely across Pern — a phenomena that was later identified as being the result of a conjunction of the planets affecting the normal Thread patterns — thus forcing co-operation between the Weyrs and Holds to figure out when and where Thread would fall. However, Oldtimer Weyrleader T'kul of High Reaches Weyr refused to do this, which nearly caused Thread to fall over Nabol Hold. With T'kul likely facing indictment from the other Weyrleaders, T'ron attempted to assert his authority over all Pern once and for all by fighting F'lar at the wedding of Lord Asgenar at Telgar Hold, secretly wearing wherhide and bringing a knife to the event. However, F'lar eventually managed to best his older opponent, and in the aftermath issued an ultimatum; all who did not wish to recognize his authority were to be banished to the Southern Continent. T'ron, T'kul and a number of Oldtimer dragonriders — including the majority of High Reaches Weyr — ultimately took control of Southern Weyr,; thus officially barring the continent from further exploration and settlement. Tradings with Southern Weyr — 2518AL Three Turns after the banishment of the Oldtimers to the Southern Continent, Masterharper Robinton gradually became aware that a number of exiled dragonriders had been seen on the Northern Continent, attempting to claim tithes. In addition to this, Lord Meron of Nabol Hold was secretly trading with the Oldtimers, selling them various goods in return for fire-lizard eggs. This didn't go un-noticed; many became suspicious of Nabol's large fire-lizard population, despite Nabol lacking any coastlines for fire-lizards to clutch along. In time, Masterharper Robinton sent Journeyman Sebell and Piemur in disguise to a Gather at Nabol Hold to spy on Meron's activities. Over the course of the evening, Piemur managed to enter the Hold disguised as a drudge and steal a queen fire-lizard egg from Meron's rooms, before hiding in a storeroom which, unknown to him, contained the goods to be traded to Southern Weyr. Later in the evening, exiled Oldtimer dragonriders arrived and collected these goods — along with Piemur, who had fallen asleep inside a sack in the storeroom — which was witnessed by Sebell. Not long after the Gather, Lord Meron became fatally ill after discovering the theft of the queen fire-lizard egg, aggravating a long-standing illness. Despite his plans to make Nabol fall into chaos by not naming his successor — thus causing battles for succession — Meron was eventually tricked by Masterharper Robinton and High Reaches Weyrleader T'bor into choosing his nephew Deckter, who promptly put an end to the trading after Meron died. The Girl Who Heard Dragons — 2519AL In the twelfth Turn of the Ninth Pass, the Lord Holders of the eastern half of the Northern Continent gradually came to realise that their Minor Holds were being targeted for raids by an organised group of «renegades». These raids were in fact the work of the self-styled «Lady Holdless» Thella, a sister of Lord Larad of Telgar who had fled Telgar Hold shortly before the Ninth Pass began, initially planning to set herself up as a legitimate holder, but later becoming While staying amongst the Holdless in the Igen Caverns, Thella discovered that there was a family in residence whose daughter; Aramina, had the ability to hear dragons. Thella attempted to win the favour of the family; intending to use Aramina's ability to spy on the Weyrs, but they eventually fled the caverns to escape her. Thella pursued them north to Lemos, but was forced to abandon the hunt when Aramina called dragonriders to aid her father, who had become injured. Thella subsequently planned an assault on the Lilcamp trader train, which she had encountered along the way, and who she believed had tipped off Aramina's family. However, one member of her «renegades» had once been a member of this trader train, and tricked her into abandoning the attack midway when he discovered their identities. Seeking revenge, one of the traders, Jayge Lilcamp, joined a travel troop of Lord Asgenar, and was there during the attach on Thella's mountain hold. He followed her to Benden Hold, on delver run for Opening of the Southern Continent — 2523AL Tensions arose again in the fifteenth year of the Ninth Pass; when the majority of the remaining Oldtimer dragonriders — led by former High Reaches Weyrleader T'kul following the death of T'ron — began practising timing it in secret. With their numbers rapidly dropping, their queen dragons no longer rising to mate and no green riders left to give their dragons «relief», they planned to abduct one of Ramoth's queen eggs from an upcoming Hatching at Benden Weyr and hide it at an obscure point in time until it could be Impressed to someone of their choosing, and thus allow their Weyr to survive. Although they succeeded in abducting the egg, not long after their brash move the egg was unexpectedly returned to Benden Weyr. Unknown to most, their work had been foiled by the actions of Lord Jaxom of Ruatha Hold and his dragon, Ruth. Fire-lizards found Ruth fascinating, and often told him strange stories or showed him pictures of times and places. When Ruth complained to Jaxom of fire-lizards claiming he took Ramoth's egg, Jaxom eventually realised that the fire-lizards had seen Ruth returning the egg, and thus travelled between times — using the image given by the fire-lizards — and successfully was able to return the egg to Benden Weyr in secret. Later on in the same Turn, T'kul would make one final attempt to return himself to power, by attending the Mating Flight of Caylith, along with B'zon, a fellow bronze rider. Unknown to the others, T'kul had a hidden agenda; knowing full well that his elderly dragon Salth would likely die trying to catch Caylith, he intended to channel his resulting grief into a rage that he could use to overpower and kill F'lar, who was present. Ultimately, Salth perished and T'kul attacked F'lar, but the younger Weyrleader managed to overpower his attacker and killed him. Following this, it was decided that In addition to this, (Jaxom's sickness brought him to the southern continent, leading to it being explored, etc) Artifact Thievery — 2524AL (CANONICITY BANNER) Aivas — 2525AL to 2529AL The Transitionary Phase — 2529AL to 2537 AL The Fireball Flood and Dragon Telekinesis — 2539 AL References Links * Sariel's Timeline of Major Events on Pern Category:Pern History